Method of Processing Image and Electronic Device Thereof

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an operation method of an electronic device. The operation method may include: acquiring a shared image from an image resource file; acquiring an auxiliary image by using a difference between the image resource file and the shared image; and generating a particular image based on the shared image and the auxiliary image. An operation method of an electronic device is not limited to the above method, and other embodiments are possible within the same or similar scope as the present disclosure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to KoreanApplication Serial No. 10-2014-0116101, which was filed in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office on Sep. 2, 2014, the entire content ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a method of processing an image in anelectronic device and an electronic device for the same.

BACKGROUND

Recently, with the development of digital technologies, variouselectronic devices including mobile communication terminals, PersonalDigital Assistants (PDAs), electronic organizers, smart phones, tabletPersonal Computers (PCs), and the like, which can perform communicationand personal information processing while being carried, have come tomarket. Prices of the electronic devices vary, and capabilities of thedevices also vary according to price. The electronic device may havevarious resolutions based on its capabilities

Meanwhile, a content provider (a content-providing device or acontent-providing server) may provide an image file, which can beapplied to a background image of the electronic device, a home screenimage, a lock screen, or an icon of the home screen image, or an imageinstallation file including a plurality of successive images to give ananimation effect. However, as described above, the electronic deviceshave different resolutions, so the content provider should preparevarious image files suitable for the respective resolutions of theelectronic devices.

For example, the content provider may generate installation files, whichsimulate a user's mood such as a theme installation file mainly based onan image file, divide the files according to various categories, andprovide the files. The user may access a server of the content providerby using the electronic device, download a desired installation file,and apply the downloaded installation file to a background image of theelectronic device.

The content provider may provide one image file in various resolutions.That is, when one image file includes an image resource supporting allresolutions, the size of the image file becomes very large. In thiscase, the electronic device downloads not only the image resource at theresolution which can be applied to the electronic device, but also theimage resource which is not suitable for the resolution of theelectronic device. That is, the electronic device downloads unnecessaryfiles and thus incurs the large data license fee.

In other cases, the content provider may configure image files dividedaccording to each resolution, but in this case the content providertakes on the large costs of managing the image files. Alternatively,when the content provider provides an image file of one resolution, ahigh resolution electronic device may download an image file of inferiorimage quality.

SUMMARY

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes: a communicationinterface configured to receive an image resource file from acontent-providing server; a processor configured to read a shared imagefrom the image resource file, identifying display information of theelectronic device, determining an auxiliary image using a differencebetween the display information and the shared information, andgenerating a particular image based on the shared image and theauxiliary image and a display configured to display the generatedparticular image.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, anoperation method of an electronic device is provided. The operationmethod includes: acquiring a shared image from an image resource file;acquiring an auxiliary image including using a difference between theimage resource file and the shared image; and generating a particularimage based on the shared image and the auxiliary image.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, anelectronic device includes a computer-readable storage medium recordinga program for executing a process. The process includes: acquiring ashared image from an image resource file; acquiring an auxiliary imageincluding using a difference between the image resource file and theshared image; and generating a particular image based on the sharedimage and the auxiliary image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment including an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of generating a shared image according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of generating a shared image or anauxiliary image according to various embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for generating a sharedimage or an auxiliary image based on an original image in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for generating a sharedimage or a plurality of auxiliary images in an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for generating a sharedimage or a plurality of auxiliary images in an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrate the generation of a particular image in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for generating aparticular image in an electronic device according to variousembodiments;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are flowcharts illustrating an operation for acquiringan auxiliary image in an electronic device according to variousembodiments; and

FIG. 11 illustrates an operation for acquiring a particular resolutionimage corresponding to a plurality of particular resolutions based on ashared image in an electronic device according to various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings. The present disclosure may have variousembodiments, and modifications and changes may be made therein.Therefore, the present invention will be described in detail withreference to particular embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.However, it should be understood that there is no intent to limit thepresent disclosure to the particular forms, and the present disclosureshould be construed to cover all modifications, equivalents, and/oralternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. In describing the drawings, similar elements are designatedby similar reference numerals.

As used in the present disclosure, the expression “include” or “mayinclude” refers to the existence of a corresponding function, operation,or constituent element, and does not limit one or more additionalfunctions, operations, or constituent elements. Further, as used in thepresent disclosure, the term such as “include” or “have” may beconstrued to denote a certain characteristic, number, step, operation,constituent element, component or a combination thereof, but may not beconstrued to exclude the existence of or a possibility of addition ofone or more other characteristics, numbers, steps, operations,constituent elements, components or combinations thereof.

As used in the present disclosure, the expression “or”, “at least one”includes any or all combinations of words enumerated together. Forexample, the expression “A or B”, “at least one of A or/and B” mayinclude A, may include B, or may include both A and B.

While expressions including ordinal numbers, such as “first” and“second”, as used in the present disclosure may modify variousconstituent elements, such constituent elements are not limited by theabove expressions. For example, the above expressions do not limit thesequence and/or importance of the corresponding constituent elements.The above expressions may be used merely for the purpose ofdistinguishing a constituent element from other constituent elements.For example, a first user device and a second user device indicatedifferent user devices although both are user devices. For example, afirst constituent element may be termed a second constituent element,and likewise a second constituent element may also be termed a firstconstituent element without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

When a component is referred to as being “connected” or “accessed” toany other component, it should be understood that the component may bedirectly connected or accessed to the other component, but another newcomponent may also be interposed between them. Contrarily, when acomponent is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directlyaccessed” to any other component, it should be understood that there isno new component between the component and the other component.

The terms as used in various embodiments of the present invention aremerely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and are notintended to limit the present disclosure. Singular forms are intended toinclude plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technicalterms and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understoodby a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosurepertains. Such terms as those defined in a generally used dictionary areto be interpreted to have the meanings equal to the contextual meaningsin the relevant field of art, and are not to be interpreted to haveideal or excessively formal meanings unless clearly defined in thepresent disclosure.

An electronic device according to the present disclosure may be a deviceincluding a communication function. For example, the electronic devicemay include at least one of a smartphone, a tablet personal computer(PC), a mobile phone, a video phone, an electronic book (e-book) reader,a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), an MP3 player, amobile medical appliance, a camera, and a wearable device (e.g., ahead-mounted-device (HMD) such as electronic glasses, electronicclothes, an electronic bracelet, an electronic necklace, an electronicappcessory, electronic tattoos, or a 0).

According to some embodiments, the electronic device may be a smart homeappliance with a communication function. The smart home appliance as theelectronic device, for example, may include at least one of atelevision, a digital video disk (DVD) player, an audio, a refrigerator,an air conditioner, a vacuum cleaner, an oven, a microwave oven, awashing machine, an air cleaner, a set-top box, a TV box (e.g., SamsungHomeSync™, Apple TV™, or Google TV™), a game console, an electronicdictionary, an electronic key, a camcorder, and an electronic photoframe.

According to some embodiments, the electronic devices may include atleast one of various medical devices (e.g., magnetic resonanceangiography (MRA), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography(CT), and ultrasonic machines), navigation equipment, a globalpositioning system (GPS) receiver, an event data recorder (EDR), aflight data recorder (FDR), an automotive infotainment device,electronic equipment for ships (e.g., ship navigation equipment and agyrocompass), avionics, security equipment, a vehicle head unit, anindustrial or home robot, an automatic teller machine (ATM) of a bankingsystem, and a point of sales (POS) in a shop.

According to some embodiments, the electronic device may include atleast one of a part of furniture or a building/structure, an electronicboard, an electronic signature receiving device, a projector, andvarious kinds of measuring instruments (e.g., a water meter, an electricmeter, a gas meter, and a radio wave meter). The electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure may be a combination of one or moreof the aforementioned various devices. Further, the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure may be a flexible device. Further,it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the electronicdevice according to the present disclosure is not limited to theaforementioned devices.

Hereinafter, an electronic device according to various embodiments ofthe present disclosure will be discussed with reference to theaccompanying drawings. The term “a user” as used in various embodimentsmay refer to any person who uses an electronic device or any otherdevice (e.g., an artificial intelligence electronic device) using anelectronic device.

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment 100 including an electronicdevice 101 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic device 101 may include a bus 110, aprocessor 120, a memory 130, an input/output interface 140, a display150, and a communication interface 160.

The bus 110 may be a circuit interconnecting the aforementionedcomponents and transmitting communication (e.g., a control message)between the aforementioned components.

The processor 120, for example, may receive instructions from theaforementioned components (e.g., the memory 130, the input/outputinterface 140, the display 150, and the communication interface 160)other than the processor 120 through the bus 110, decode the receivedinstructions, and perform operations or data processing according to thedecoded instructions.

The processor 120 may perform predetermied functions of the electronicdevice 101. The processor 120 includes at least one ApplicationProcessor (AP) (not shown) and a Micro Controller Unit (MCU) (notshown). The AP and the MCU may be included in different IntegratedCircuits (IC) packages, respectively. According to an embodiment, the APand the MCU may be included in a single IC package.

The AP can execute an operating system (OS) or an application program tocontrol a plurality of hardware and/or software elements connected tothe AP and perform processing and calculation of various data includingthe multimedia data. The AP may be implemented by, for example, a Systemon Chip (SoC). According to an embodiment, the processor 210 may furtherinclude a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) (not illustrated). The memory130 may store instructions or data received from or generated by theprocessor 120 or other components (e.g., the input/output interface 140,the display 150, and the communication interface 160). The memory 130may include programming modules, for example, a kernel 131, middleware132, an application programming interface (API) 133, and applications134. Each of the programming modules as described above may be formed bysoftware, firmware, hardware, or a combination of two or more thereof.

The kernel 131 may control or manage system resources (e.g., the bus110, the processor 120, and the memory 130) used to execute operationsor functions implemented in the remaining other programming modules, forexample, the middleware 132, the API 133, and the applications 134.Further, the kernel 131 may provide an interface that allows themiddleware 132, the API 133, or the applications 134 to access andcontrol or manage individual components of the electronic device 101.

The middleware 132 may serve to mediate between the API 133 or theapplications 134 and the kernel 131, that is, allow the API 133 or theapplications 134 to communicate and exchange data with the kernel 131.Further, the middleware 132 may perform control (e.g., scheduling orload balancing) for task requests received from the applications 134 byusing, for example, a method of assigning a priority for use of thesystem resource (e.g., the bus 110, the processor 120, or the memory130) of the electronic device 101 to at least one of the applications134.

The API 133 is an interface (not shown) for allowing the applications134 to control functions provided by the kernel 131 and the middleware132, and may include at least one interface or function (e.g.,instruction) for, for example, file control, window control, imageprocessing, or text control.

According to various embodiments, the applications 134 may include aShort Message Service (SMS)/Multimedia Message Service (MMS)application, an e-mail application, a calendar application, an alarmapplication, a health care application (e.g., an application formeasuring the amount of exercise or blood glucose), and an environmentalinformation application (e.g., an application for providing atmosphericpressure information, humidity information, temperature information, andthe like). Additionally or alternatively, the applications 134 mayinclude an application associated with information exchange between theelectronic device 101 and an external electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 104). The application associated with informationexchange, for example, may include a notification relay application fortransferring specific information to the external electronic device or adevice management application for managing the external electronicdevice.

For example, the notification relay application may include a functionof transferring notification information, generated in anotherapplication of the electronic device 101 (e.g., the SMS/MMS application,the e-mail application, the health care application, or theenvironmental information application), to an external electronic device(e.g., the electronic device 104). Additionally or alternatively, thenotification relay application, for example, may receive notificationinformation from an external electronic device (e.g., the electronicdevice 104) and provide the received notification information to a user.The device management application, for example, may manage (e.g.,install, remove, or update) a function for at least a part of anexternal electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 104)communicating with the electronic device 101 (e.g., a function ofturning on/off an external electronic device itself (or some componentsthereof) or adjusting the brightness (or resolution) of a display), anapplication running on the external electronic device, or a serviceprovided in the external electronic device (e.g., a calling or messagingservice).

According to various embodiments, the applications 134 may include anapplication specified according to an attribute (e.g., type) of anexternal electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 104). Forexample, when the external electronic device is an MP3 player, theapplications 134 may include an application associated with musicplayback. Similarly, when the external electronic device is a mobilemedical device, the applications 134 may include an applicationassociated with health care. According to an embodiment, theapplications 134 may include at least one of an application assigned tothe electronic device 101 and an application received from an externalelectronic device (e.g., server 106 or the electronic device 104).

The applications 134 may also include an image processing program 135.The image processing program 135 may acquire a shared image generatedfrom the image resource through the communication interface 160,determine an auxiliary image generated from a difference between displayinformation of the electronic device 101 and the shared image, andgenerate a particular image based on the shared image and the auxiliaryimage. According to an embodiment, the image processing program 135 mayread the auxiliary image from the image resource, or request for theauxiliary image to a content-providing server (e.g., the server 106) andreceive the auxiliary image from the content-providing server (e.g., theserver 106). According to an embodiment, the image processing program135 may transmit the display information to the content-providing serverand receive an auxiliary image corresponding to the display information.According to an embodiment, the image processing program 135 maytransmit identification information on the shared image and the displayinformation and receive auxiliary images corresponding to the displayinformation and the identification information.

According to an embodiment, the image processing program 135 may processa low resolution image including at least a part of the image resourcefile to be the shared image. According to an embodiment, the imageprocessing program 135 may process the remaining images except for theshared image as an auxiliary image in a particular resolution. Accordingto an embodiment, the image processing program 135 may generate theshared image from at least one of an image resource file and a secondimage resource file of a resolution different from that of the imageresource file. According to an embodiment, the image processing program135 may acquire a second auxiliary image generated from a differencebetween the second image resource file and the shared image and generatea second particular image based on the shared image and the secondauxiliary image.

The input/output interface 140, for example, may transfer instructionsor data, input from a user through an input/output device (e.g., asensor, a keyboard, or a touch screen, not shown), to the processor 120,the memory 130, and the communication interface 160 through the bus 110.For example, the input/output interface 140 may provide the processor120 with data corresponding to a user's touch input through a touchscreen (not shown). Further, the input/output interface 140 may, forexample, receive instructions or data from the processor 120, the memory130, and the communication interface 160 through the bus 110 and outputthe received instructions or data through the input/output device (e.g.,a speaker or a display). For example, the input/output interface 140 mayoutput voice data processed by the processor 120 to a user through aspeaker.

The display 150 may display various pieces of information (e.g.,multimedia data or text data) to a user.

The communication interface 160 may establish communication between theelectronic device 101 and an external electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 104 or the server 106). For example, the communicationinterface 160 may be connected to the network 162 through wireless orwired communication and thereby communicate with the external device.The wireless communication, for example, may include at least one ofwireless fidelity (WiFi), Bluetooth (BT), near field communication(NFC), a global positioning system (GPS), and cellular communication(e.g., LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, CDMA, UMTS, WiBro, or GSM). The wiredcommunication, for example, may include at least one of a universalserial bus (USB), a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI),recommended standard 232 (RS-232), and a plain old telephone service(POTS).

According to an embodiment, the network 162 may be a telecommunicationsnetwork. The telecommunications network may include at least one of acomputer network, the Internet, the Internet of things, and a telephonenetwork. According to an embodiment, a protocol (e.g., a transport layerprotocol, a data link layer protocol, or a physical layer protocol) forcommunication between the electronic device 101 and an external devicemay be supported by at least one of the applications 134, theapplication programming interface 133, the middleware 132, the kernel131, and the communication interface 160.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic device according tovarious embodiments.

The electronic device 200, for example, may constitute all or a part ofthe electronic device 101 shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, theelectronic device 200 may include at least one application processor(AP) 210, a communication module 220, one or more slots for at least onesubscriber identity module (SIM) card 224, a memory 230, a sensor module240, an input module 250, a display 260, an interface 270, an audiomodule 280, a camera module 291, a power management module 295, abattery 296, an indicator 297, and a motor 298.

The AP 210 may drive an operating system or an application program tocontrol a plurality of hardware or software components connected to theAP 210, and may perform processing and operations of various dataincluding multimedia data. The AP 210, for example, may be implementedas a system on chip (SoC). According to an embodiment, the AP 210 mayfurther include a graphic processing unit (GPU) (not shown).

The communication module 220 (e.g., the communication interface 160) mayperform data transmission/reception in communication with otherelectronic devices (e.g., the electronic device 104 and the server 106)connected to the electronic device 200 (e.g., the electronic device 101)through a network. According to an embodiment, the communication module220 may include a cellular module 221, a WiFi module 223, a BT module225, a GPS module 227, an NFC module 228, and a radio frequency (RF)module 229.

The cellular module 221 may provide a voice call, a video call, an SMSservice, an Internet service, and the like through a communicationnetwork (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, WCDMA, UMTS, WiBro, or GSM). Also, thecellular module 221 may identify and authenticate an electronic devicein a communication network by using, for example, a subscriberidentification module (e.g., the SIM card 224). According to anembodiment, the cellular module 221 may perform at least some of thefunctions that may be provided by the AP 210. For example, the cellularmodule 221 may perform at least a multimedia control function.

According to an embodiment, the cellular module 221 may include acommunication processor (CP) (not shown). Further, the cellular module221, for example, may be implemented as a SoC. Although the cellularmodule 221 (e.g., a CP), the memory 230, the power management module295, and the like are shown as separate elements from the AP 210 in FIG.2, the AP 210 may be implemented to include at least some (e.g., thecellular module 221) of the aforementioned elements according to anembodiment.

According to an embodiment, the AP 210 or the cellular module 221 (e.g.,a CP) may load a command or data received from at least one of anon-volatile memory and other elements connected thereto into a volatilememory and process the loaded command or data. Further, the AP 210 orthe cellular module 221 may store data received from or generated by atleast one of other elements in a non-volatile memory.

Each of the WiFi module 223, the BT module 225, the GPS module 227, andthe NFC module 228, for example, may include a processor for processingdata transmitted or received through the corresponding module. Althoughthe cellular module 221, the WiFi module 223, the BT module 225, the GPSmodule 227, and the NFC module 228 are shown as separate blocks in FIG.2, at least some (e.g., two or more) of the cellular module 221, theWiFi module 223, the BT module 225, the GPS module 227, and the NFCmodule 228 may be included in one integrated chip (IC) or one IC packageaccording to an embodiment. For example, at least some of processorscorresponding to the cellular module 221, the WiFi module 223, the BTmodule 225, the GPS module 227, and the NFC module 228 respectively(e.g., a CP corresponding to the cellular module 221 and a WiFiprocessor corresponding to the WiFi module 223) may be implemented asone SoC.

The RF module 229 may perform data transmission/reception, for example,RF signal transmission/reception. Although not shown in the drawing, theRF module 229, for example, may include a transceiver (not shown), apower amp module (PAM) (not shown), a frequency filter (not shown), alow noise amplifier (LNA) (not shown), and the like. Also, the RF module229 may further include a component for transmitting/receiving anelectromagnetic wave over the air in wireless communication, such as aconductor or a conducting wire. Although FIG. 2 shows that the cellularmodule 221, the WiFi module 223, the BT module 225, the GPS module 227,and the NFC module 228 share one RF module 229, at least one of thecellular module 221, the WiFi module 223, the BT module 225, the GPSmodule 227, and the NFC module 228 may perform RF signaltransmission/reception through a separate RF module (not shown)according to an embodiment.

The at least one SIM card 224 may be a card including a subscriberidentification module (not shown), and may be inserted into a slotformed in a certain position of the electronic device. The at least oneSIM card 224 may include unique identification information (e.g.,integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID)) or subscriber information(e.g., international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)).

The memory 230 (e.g., similar to the memory 130) may include an internalmemory 232 or an external memory 234. The internal memory 232, forexample, may include at least one of a volatile memory (e.g., a dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), or asynchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)) and a non-volatilememory (e.g., a one-time programmable read-only memory (OTPROM), aprogrammable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable and programmableread-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), a mask read-only memory, a flash read-onlymemory, a NOT AND (“NAND”) flash memory, or an NOT OR (“NOR”) flashmemory).

According to an embodiment, the internal memory 232 may be a solid statedrive (SSD). The external memory 234 may further include a flash drive,for example, a compact flash (CF), a secure digital (SD), a micro securedigital (Micro-SD), a mini secure digital (Mini-SD), an extreme digital(xD), or a memory stick. The external memory 234 may be functionallyconnected to the electronic device 200 through various interfaces.According to an embodiment, the electronic device 200 may furtherinclude a storage device (or storage medium) such as a hard drive (notshown).

The sensor module 240 may measure a physical quantity or detect anoperation state of the electronic device 200 and convert the measured ordetected information into an electronic signal. The sensor module 240,for example, may include at least one of a gesture sensor 240A, a gyrosensor 240B, an atmospheric pressure sensor 240C, a magnetic sensor240D, an acceleration sensor 240E, a grip sensor 240F, a proximitysensor 240G, a color or RGB sensor 240H (e.g., a red, green and blue(RGB) sensor), a biometric sensor 240I, a temperature/humidity sensor240J, a light sensor 240K, and a ultraviolet (UV) sensor 240M.Additionally or alternatively, the sensor module 240, for example, mayinclude an E-nose sensor (not shown), an electromyography (EMG) sensor(not shown), an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor (not shown), anelectrocardiogram (ECG) sensor (not shown), an infrared (IR) sensor (notshown), an iris scanner (not shown), and/or a fingerprint sensor (notshown). The sensor module 240 may further include a control circuit forcontrolling one or more sensors included therein.

The input module 250 may include a touch panel 252, a (digital) pensensor 254, a key 256, or an ultrasonic input device 258. The touchpanel 252 that recognizes a touch input, for example, may include atleast one of a capacitive touch panel, a resistive touch panel, aninfrared touch panel, and an acoustic wave touch panel. Also, the touchpanel 252 may further include a control circuit (not shown). When thetouch panel 252 is a capacitive touch panel, it may recognize a physicalcontact or proximity. The touch panel 252 may also further include atactile layer (not shown). In this case, the touch panel 252 may providea tactile response to a user.

The (digital) pen sensor 254, for example, may be implemented using ameans identical or similar to a means for receiving a touch input from auser or using a separate recognition sheet (not shown). The key 256, forexample, may include a physical button (not shown), an optical key (notshown), or a keypad (not shown). The ultrasonic input device 258 is aunit that can identify data by generating an ultrasonic signal throughan input tool (not shown) and detecting a sonic wave through amicrophone (e.g., the microphone 288) in the electronic device 200, andis capable of wireless recognition. According to an embodiment, theelectronic device 200 may also receive a user input from an externaldevice (e.g., computer or server) connected thereto by using thecommunication module 220.

The display 260 (e.g., similar to the display 150) may include a panel262, a hologram device 264, and a projector 266. The panel 262, forexample, may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an activematrix-organic light emitting diode (AM-OLED). The panel 262, forexample, may be implemented to be flexible, transparent, or wearable.The panel 262 may also be incorporated into one module together with thetouch panel 252. The hologram device 264 may show a stereoscopic imagein the air by using light interference. The projector 266 may display animage by projecting light onto a screen (not shown). The screen, forexample, may be located inside or outside of the electronic device 200.According to an embodiment, the display 260 may further include acontrol circuit for controlling the panel 262, the hologram unit 264, orthe projector 266.

The interface 270, for example, may include a high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI) 272, a universal serial bus (USB) 274, an opticalinterface 276, or a D-subminiature (D-sub) 278. The interface 270, forexample, may be included in the communication interface 160 shown inFIG. 1. Additionally or alternatively, the interface 290, for example,may include a mobile high-definition link (MHL) interface, a securedigital (SD) card/multimedia card (MMC) interface, or an infrared dataassociation (IrDA) interface.

The audio module 280 may provide bidirectional conversion between asound and an electronic signal. At least some elements of the audiomodule 280, for example, may be included in the input/output interface140 shown in FIG. 1. The audio module 280, for example, may processsound information input or output through a speaker 282, a receiver 284,earphones 286, or the microphone 288.

The camera module 291 is a device that can take both still and movingimages, and according to an embodiment, may include one or more imagesensors (e.g., a front sensor or a rear sensor, not shown), a lens (notshown), an image signal processor (ISP) (not shown), or a flash (e.g., alight-emitting diode (LED) or xenon lamp, not shown).

The power management module 295 may manage power of the electronicdevice 200. Although not shown, the power management module 295, forexample, may include a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), acharger IC, or a battery or fuel gauge.

The PMIC, for example, may be mounted in an IC or an SoC semiconductor.Charging methods may be classified into wired charging and wirelesscharging. The charger IC may charge a battery, and may prevent anovervoltage or excess current from being induced or flowing from acharger. According to an embodiment, the charger IC may include acharger IC for at least one of the wired charging and the wirelesscharging. Examples of the wireless charging include magnetic resonancecharging, magnetic induction charging, and electromagnetic charging, andan additional circuit such as a coil loop, a resonance circuit, and arectifier may be added for the wireless charging.

A battery gauge (not shown), for example, may measure the residualcapacity, charge in voltage, current, or temperature of the battery 296.The battery 296 may store or generate electricity, and may supply powerto the electronic device 200 by using the stored or generatedelectricity. The battery 296, for example, may include a rechargeablebattery or a solar battery.

The indicator 297 may display a specific status of the electronic device200 or a part thereof (e.g., the AP 210), for example, a boot-up status,a message status, or a charging status. The motor 298 may convert anelectrical signal into a mechanical vibration. Although not shown, theelectronic device 200 may include a processing unit (e.g., GPU) forsupporting a mobile TV. The processing unit for supporting a mobile TVmay process media data pursuant to a certain standard, for example,digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), digital video broadcasting (DVB),or media flow.

Each of the above described elements of the electronic device 200according to the present disclosure may be formed by one or morecomponents, and the names of the corresponding elements may varyaccording to the type of the electronic device 200. The electronicdevice 200 according to the present disclosure may include at least oneof the above described elements, and may exclude some of the elements orfurther include other additional elements. Further, some of the elementsof the electronic device 200 according to the present disclosure may becoupled to form a single entity while performing the same functions asthose of the corresponding elements before the coupling.

An electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 200) may acquirevarious pieces of image data (or files) and use the acquired image dataas images of various programs of the electronic device (e.g., thebackground image of the display 260, an icon displayed on the display150 (of FIG. 1), and successive image resources to create an animationeffect). An image provider (e.g., a content provider) may includevarious image resource files within an installation file (e.g., a themeinstallation file) and configure a server (e.g., the server 106 ofFIG. 1) from which an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device200) may download the installation file, and each server may includevarious installation files. The electronic device 200 may be configuredto search for, download, and install such files, and read correspondingimage resources and store the read image resources in a memory bufferfor decoding or displaying them. This specification may describe amethod for effectively supporting various resolutions in order to allowthe electronic device 200 to use various image resources.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of generating a shared image according tovarious embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 3, a content-providing server (e.g., the server 106)may generate a shared image 300 from an original image (or an imageresource file). The shared image 300 may be generated from the imageresource file and may be at least one of a low resolution image having apredetermined size, an image having a particular size, and a particularresolution image. The shared image 300 may be used for generating animage (e.g., a particular image) identical or similar to the originalimage through a method of synthesizing, modifying, copying, and mergingone or more images (e.g., auxiliary images). When the shared image 300and the particular resolution image (e.g., an image 301 or 303) arerequired, the content-providing server may generate an image (e.g., anauxiliary image) corresponding to a difference between the shared image300 and the particular resolution image (e.g., the image 301 or 303).The auxiliary image may be generated by changing (or modifying) aresolution of a particular resolution image resource file (e.g., theimage 301). For example, the auxiliary image may be a remaining image,which is left after the shared image 300 is separated from the imageresource file (e.g., the image 301) (e.g., the auxiliary image may bedescribed as a difference 311 between the shared image 300 and theparticular resolution image 301).

According to an embodiment, the shared image 300 may be an image of acolor component and/or a brightness component of the original image(image resource file) or an image of a resolution and/or a size of theoriginal image. According to an embodiment, the auxiliary image may be alow brightness or achromatic image. Hereinafter, although it isdescribed that the electronic device 101 generates a particular imageidentical or similar to an image resource file by using a shared imageand an auxiliary image generated from the image resource file, moreprecisely, the electronic device 101 may generate a particular imageconfigured to be identical or similar to the image resource file.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of generating a shared image or anauxiliary image according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 4, a content-providing server (e.g., the server 106 ofFIG. 1) may generate a shared image by using a particular resolutionimage. According to an embodiment, when generating the shared image, thecontent-providing server may perform an operation for changing (ormodifying) the resolution. The operation for changing the resolution mayuse a downsizing scheme to change a resolution at a predetermined levelof the particular resolution image to a lower resolution. Thecontent-providing server may select at least some pixels (or pixelvalues) in a particular resolution image 400. The content-providingserver may generate a split image 410 including at least some pixelsselected in the particular resolution image 400. The content-providingserver may re-arrange pixels of the generated split image 410. Whenre-arranging the pixels of the split image 410, the content-providingserver may re-arrange the pixels selected in the particular resolutionimage 400 to generate a predetermined resolution image (e.g., the sharedimage 300). Further, when re-arranging the selected pixels to generatethe predetermined resolution image, the content-providing server maydelete at least some of the pixels selected in the particular resolutionimage 400 or at least some of the remaining pixels, which do not includethe selected pixels, and generate predetermined pixels. Thecontent-providing server may reduce the image resolution and generatethe shared image 300, which has a predetermined size, by re-arrangingthe pixels of the generated split image 410.

The content-providing server may generate the split image 410 byselecting predetermined pixels in the particular image corresponding toan original image (e.g., the original image 400). According to anembodiment, the content-providing server may select pixels that have apredetermined color or brightness larger than or equal to apredetermined value in the original image 400 based on configurationinformation (display information of the electronic device 101 (of FIG.1), for example, the resolution). Further, the content-providing servermay select pixels that have pixel values (e.g., outline or boundary)corresponding to predetermined brightness or saturation (e.g.,predetermined brightness and color) in the original image 400 through acomparison with neighboring pixels. The content-providing server maygenerate the split image 410 using the selected pixels. The electronicdevice 101 may generate the shared image 300 (of FIG. 3) by arranging atleast some of the pixels included in the split image 410 in apredetermined scheme. When generating the shared image 300 based on theoriginal image 400, the content-providing server may generate the sharedimage 300 corresponding to an entire area of the original image 400 orgenerate the shared image 300 corresponding to a partial area of theoriginal image 400.

The electronic device 101 (of FIG. 1) may generate the particularresolution image 400 (e.g., the original image 400) by synthesizing theshared image 300 and at least one image. When generating the particularresolution image 400 based on the shared image 300, the electronicdevice 101 may require an image (e.g., an auxiliary image 420) includingat least a part of the particular resolution image 400.

The auxiliary image 420 may be acquired through an operation forgenerating the shared image 300 based on the original image 400.According to an embodiment, when generating the auxiliary image 420, thecontent-providing server (e.g., the server 106 of FIG. 1) may generatean image including the remaining pixels of the original image 400 exceptfor the pixels included in the split image 410 as the auxiliary image420. The content-providing server may insert at least one piece ofinformation related to the generation of the shared image 300,identification information of the shared image 300, identificationinformation of the auxiliary image 420, and identification informationof the original image 400 into at least one of the original image 400,the shared image 300, and the auxiliary image 420.

When the information related to the shared image is included in theimage data, the content-providing server may insert the informationrelated to the shared image into a header of the image data or intoseparate data. When inserting the information on the shared image 300,the content-providing server may insert information on an arrangementpattern and the positions of the pixels included in the split image inthe resolution before the split image 410 is re-arranged. Theinformation on the arrangement pattern of the pixels included in thesplit image 410 and the pixel positions may be determined based on theoriginal image 400. According to an embodiment of the size of the imagedata, the size of the shared data 300 may be smaller than the size ofthe image resource file 400, and the size of the auxiliary image 420 maybe smaller than the size of the shared image 300. Further, the size ofthe image generated by synthesizing the shared image 300 and theauxiliary image 420 may be identical or similar to the size of the imageresource file 400. According to various embodiments, the electronicdevice 101 may receive a request for transmitting a first resolutionimage and a second resolution image based on the shared image includedin another electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102 of FIG.1). The electronic device 101 (of FIG. 1) may transmit the firstresolution image and the second resolution image, and may transmit afirst auxiliary image generated between the first resolution image andthe shared image and a second auxiliary image generated between thesecond resolution image and the shared image. The electronic device 101may further reduce the data size used for data transmission/receptionwhen corresponding auxiliary data is transmitted rather thantransmitting a particular resolution image that was requested to betransmitted.

An operation for generating the shared image or the auxiliary image byusing the particular resolution image (e.g., the original image) is notlimited to the operation of the electronic device 101, but may bedescribed as the operation of the server 106 for providing the sharedimage 300 or the auxiliary image 420.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for generating a sharedimage or an auxiliary image based on an original image according tovarious embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 5, in operation 501, the electronic device 101 (ofFIG. 1) may generate a shared image based on an image resource file.According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101 may select atleast one pixel from pixels included in the image resource file, andgenerate a new image (e.g., a split image) including pixel values of theselected pixels. The electronic device 101 may generate a shared imageof a predetermined resolution by re-arranging the pixels, which areselected from the image resource file and included in the split image.With respect to the pixels, which are selected from the image resourcefile and included in the split image, information on positions orarrangement of the pixels may be stored in the shared image. When animage having a particular resolution identical or similar to that of theimage resource file is generated based on the shared image, the storedimage may be used as information for determining positions of the pixelsincluded in the shared image in the generated image.

In operation 503, the electronic device 101 may generate an auxiliaryimage based on the shared image. The electronic device 101 may generatea particular image (e.g., the original image) by synthesizing the sharedimage and the auxiliary image. The electronic device 101 may generatethe remaining images of the image resource file except for the sharedimage as the auxiliary image. For example, the electronic device 101 maygenerate a shared image (e.g., a split image) having a resolutionidentical or similar to that of the image resource file in the operationfor generating the image resource file. The split image may be an imagefor at least some pixels in the image resource file. The electronicdevice 101 may determine an image of the remaining areas of the imageresource file except for the split image (e.g., an image including theremaining pixels of the pixels of the image resource file except for thepixels of the split image) as the auxiliary image. In operation 505, theelectronic device 101 may provide the generated shared image and/orauxiliary image. According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101may provide the shared image to handle a request for various resolutionimages. For example, when the electronic device 101 receives a requestfor transmitting an image of a particular resolution for the sharedimage from another electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102),which provides the shared image, the electronic device 101 may transmitauxiliary data generated between the image of the particular resolutionand the shared image.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for generating a sharedimage or a plurality of auxiliary images according to variousembodiments.

The electronic device 101 (of FIG. 1) may generate one shared imagecorresponding to the same image of various resolutions. The electronicdevice 101 may generate at least one auxiliary image with respect toshared data and an image of a particular resolution.

In operation 601, the electronic device 101 may generate a common sharedimage in a plurality of images of different particular resolutions.According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101 may generate ashared image including a common pixel between an image of a firstparticular resolution (e.g., a first original image) and an image of asecond particular resolution (e.g., a second original image). The sharedimage may be a low resolution image, which is downsized from the firstoriginal image and the second original image.

In operation 603, the electronic device 101 may generate a firstauxiliary image based on the first original image and the shared image.According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101 may generate ashared image of a common resolution by using two or more differentparticular resolution images (e.g., the image 301 or 303 of FIG. 3).According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101 may generate oneshared image 300 based on two or more image source files of differentresolutions and generate an auxiliary image corresponding to adifference between each of the image resource files and the shared image300. For example, the electronic device 101 may generate the remainingimages of the first original image except for the shared image as thefirst auxiliary image. For example, the electronic device 101 mayconfigure an image including the remaining pixels except for pixelscorresponding to the pixels included in the shared image among thepixels included in the first original image as the first auxiliaryimage.

In operation 605, the electronic device 101 may generate a secondauxiliary image based on the second original image and the shared image.According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101 may generate theremaining images of the second original image except for the sharedimage as the second auxiliary image. For example, the electronic device101 may configure an image including the remaining pixels except forpixels corresponding to the pixels included in the shared image amongthe pixels included in the second original image as the second auxiliaryimage. When performing operations 603 and 605 described above, theelectronic device 101 may sequentially perform the operations accordingto a preset priority or may simultaneously perform the operations.

The electronic device 101 may end the embodiment of FIG. 6 afterperforming operation 605.

The electronic device 101 may transmit the generated shared data toanother electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 102) and receivea request for transmitting the first original image or the secondoriginal image from the electronic device 102. The electronic device 101may transmit an auxiliary image (e.g., the first auxiliary image)corresponding to the requested image of the particular resolution (e.g.,the first original image). The electronic device 102 having received theauxiliary image may generate the image of the particular resolution(e.g., the first original image), which was requested to be transmittedfrom the electronic device 101 based on the shared image and thereceived auxiliary image (e.g., the first auxiliary image).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for generating a sharedimage or a plurality of auxiliary images by an electronic deviceaccording to various embodiments.

The electronic device 101 (of FIG. 1) may generate a common shared imagebased on different particular resolution images and generate anauxiliary image corresponding to the shared image and each of theparticular resolutions.

In operation 701, the electronic device 101 may generate the sharedimage based on an image of a first particular resolution (e.g., a firstoriginal image). According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101may select at least one pixel from pixels included in the first originalimage, and generate a new image (e.g., a split image) including pixelvalues of the selected pixels. The electronic device 101 may generate ashared image of a predetermined resolution by re-arranging the pixels,which are selected from the first particular resolution and included inthe split image. Information on positions of the pixels, which areselected from the first particular resolution and included in the splitimage, in the first particular resolution or information on arrangementof the pixels may be stored in the shared image. When an image having aparticular resolution identical or similar to the first particularresolution is generated based on the shared image, the stored image maybe used as information for determining positions of the pixels includedin the shared image in the generated image.

In operation 703, the electronic device 101 may generate a firstauxiliary image based on the first original image. When generating thefirst original image by using the shared image, the electronic device101 may synthesize the first original image by using at least one firstauxiliary image. According to an embodiment of generating the firstauxiliary image, the electronic device 101 may generate the remainingimages of the first original image except for the shared image as thefirst auxiliary image. For example, the electronic device 101 maygenerate a shared image (e.g., a split image) of a resolution identicalor similar to that of the first original image in the operation forgenerating the first original image. The split image may be an image forat least some pixels in the first original image. The electronic device101 may determine an image of the remaining areas of the first originalimage except for the split image (e.g., an image including the remainingpixels except for the pixels of the split image in the pixels of thefirst original image) as the first auxiliary image. The electronicdevice 101 may synthesize the first original image based on the sharedimage and the first auxiliary image.

In operation 705, the electronic device 101 may generate an image of asecond particular resolution (e.g., a second original image) based onthe first original image. According to an embodiment, the electronicdevice 101 may acquire the second original image by performing adownsizing operation, which deteriorates the resolution and/or qualityof the first original image. The electronic device 101 may determinepixels included in the first original image, which correspond to thepixels included in the shared image, and generate second original datain a state where the determined pixels are not excluded.

In operation 707, the electronic device 101 may generate a secondauxiliary image based on the second original image. When generating thesecond original image by using the shared image, the electronic device101 may synthesize the second original image by using at least onesecond auxiliary image. According to an embodiment of generating thesecond auxiliary image, the electronic device 101 may generate theremaining images of the second original image except for the sharedimage as the second auxiliary image. For example, the electronic device101 may generate a shared image (e.g., a split image) of a resolutionidentical or similar to that of the second original image in theoperation for generating the second original image. The split image maybe an image for at least some pixels in the second original image. Theelectronic device 101 may determine an image of the remaining areas ofthe second original image except for the split image (e.g., an imageincluding the remaining pixels except for the pixels of the split imagein the pixels of the second original image) as the second auxiliaryimage. The electronic device 101 may synthesize the second originalimage based on the shared image and the second auxiliary image.

The electronic device 101 may end the embodiment of FIG. 7 afterperforming operation 707.

FIG. 8 illustrates the generation of a particular image in an electronicdevice according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 8, the electronic device 101 (of FIG. 1) may generatean image 830 of a particular resolution based on the shared image 300(of FIG. 3) and an auxiliary image 820. According to an embodiment, whenan image of a high resolution (e.g., an image of a particularresolution) identical to that of the shared image is required, theelectronic device 101 may determine an auxiliary image of a resolutionidentical or similar to that of the shared image and the particularresolution. The electronic device 101 may enlarge the shared image. Forexample, the electronic device 101 may enlarge the resolution of theshared image to an image of a particular resolution (e.g., a resolutionenlarged image 810).

The electronic device 101 may arrange pixels included in the sharedimage in the resolution enlarged image 810 at the position correspondingto the image of the particular resolution based on configurationinformation. The electronic device 101 may generate a high resolutionimage of the requested particular resolution based on the resolutionenlarged image and the auxiliary image 820. The electronic device 101may generate an image 830 of a particular resolution through a copying,merging, modifying, or synthesizing scheme based on the resolutionenlarged image 810 and the auxiliary image 820. The image 830 of theparticular resolution generated by the electronic device 101 may be animage of quality identical or similar to that of the original image ofthe particular resolution requested based on the shared image.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating a particularimage in an electronic device according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 9, in operation 901, the processor 120 (of FIG. 1) mayreceive an image resource file from the content-providing server throughthe communication interface 160 (of FIG. 1). The image resource file maybe an image file, which can be applied to a background image of theelectronic device 101 (of FIG. 1), a home screen image, a lock screen,and an icon of the home screen image or an image installation fileincluding a plurality of successive images for an animation effect. Theimage resource file may include only a shared image or include both theshared image and an auxiliary image. The image resource file may referto the above described original image.

In operation 903, the processor 120 may read the shared image from theimage resource file. The reading of the shared image may refer toextracting or reading the shared image from the image resource file.

In operation 905, the processor 120 may identify display information ofthe electronic device 101. The display information of the electronicdevice 101 may be a resolution or a pixel value of the display 150 (ofFIG. 1). Alternatively, the display information may be a resolution or apixel value set to the electronic device 101 by the user.

In operation 907, the processor 120 may determine an auxiliary image byusing a difference between the shared image and the display information.The auxiliary image may be read by the processor 120 from the imageresource file based on the difference between the shared image and thedisplay information. Alternatively, the processor 120 may receive theauxiliary image from the content-providing server. To this end, theprocessor 120 may transmit identification information of the sharedimage and the display information to the content-providing server. Thecontent-providing server may search for the auxiliary imagecorresponding to the identification information of the shared image andthe display information and transmit the found auxiliary image to theelectronic device 101.

In operation 909, the processor 120 may generate a particular imagebased on the shared image and the auxiliary image. The particular imagemay refer to an image made to be suitable for the display information ofthe electronic device 101. For example, the processor 120 may generatethe particular image according to the resolution of the display 150.

When the particular image is generated, the display 150 may display theparticular image. For example, when the image resource file is receivedto be set as a background image of the electronic device 101, thedisplay 150 may display the particular image as the background image.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are flowcharts illustrating an operation for acquiringan auxiliary image in an electronic device according to variousembodiments.

FIG. 10A is a flowchart illustrating an operation for generating aparticular image in an electronic device according to variousembodiments.

Referring to FIG. 10A, in operation 1001, the electronic device 101 (ofFIG. 1) may determine the display information of the electronic device101. According to an embodiment, when the electronic device 101 sets thebackground image of the display 150 (of FIG. 1) of the electronic device101 based on the shared image, the electronic device 101 may determinethe resolution of the display 150. When the electronic device 101determines an icon image of a particular program based on the sharedimage, the electronic device 101 may determine the resolution of theicon. Alternatively, the user may select the desired resolution of theelectronic device 101.

In operation 1003, the electronic device 101 may determine an auxiliaryimage of the shared image based on the determined display information.The electronic device 101 may include at least one auxiliary image ofthe shared image in the form of the same category or the same package.When determining the auxiliary image corresponding to a particularresolution based on the shared image, the electronic device 101 may useidentification information of the shared image. According to anembodiment, when determining the particular resolution to be used basedon the shared image, the electronic device 101 may identify theidentification information of the shared image. The electronic device101 may determine the auxiliary image corresponding to the particularresolution based on the identified identification information of theshared image. Alternatively, the electronic device 101 may determine theauxiliary image based on the display information of the display 150, thedetermined display information, or the identification information of theshared image.

In operation 1005, the electronic device 101 may generate the particularimage based on the shared image and the auxiliary image. According to anembodiment, the electronic device 101 may enlarge the size of the sharedimage or increase the resolution of the shared image and merge theshared image with the auxiliary image, so as to generate the particularimage. The electronic device 101 may determine positions of pixelsincluded in the shared image in the particular resolution based onattribute information of the shared image in an operation for enlargingthe shared image. The electronic device 101 may generate the particularimage based on the enlarged shared image and the auxiliary image. Whengenerating the particular image, the electronic device 101 maysynthesize the shared image and the auxiliary image through a merging,modifying, or copying scheme.

The electronic device 101 may end the embodiment of FIG. 9 afterperforming operation 905.

FIG. 10B is a flowchart illustrating an operation for acquiring anauxiliary image in an electronic device according to variousembodiments.

According to various embodiments, the embodiment of FIG. 10B correspondsto a flowchart illustrating an operation for acquiring an auxiliaryimage by making a request for transmitting an image of a particularresolution determined based on a shared image by the electronic device101 or a request for transmitting an auxiliary image corresponding tothe particular resolution to at least one other electronic device (e.g.,the server 106) connected through network communication. Hereinafter,various embodiments of FIG. 10B may correspond to operations afteroperation 1001 of FIG. 10.

In operation 1010, the electronic device 101 may transmit the determineddisplay information and the identification information of the sharedimage to the content-providing server (e.g., the server 106).Alternatively, the electronic device 101 may transmit the displayinformation and the identification information of the shared image toanother electronic device (e.g., the server 106) connected throughnetwork communication.

In operation 1020, the electronic device 101 may receive the auxiliaryimage from the content-providing server. According to an embodiment, theelectronic device 101 may receive a particular image identical orsimilar to the shared image from the content-providing server, but mayreceive an auxiliary image that has a capacity smaller than that of theparticular image or the shared image, thereby reducing the amount oftransmitted/received data.

When operation 1020 is performed, the electronic device 101 may end theembodiment of FIG. 10B or may perform operation 1005 of FIG. 10A. Theelectronic device 101 may generate (or synthesize) the particular imagebased on the shared image and the received auxiliary image in operation1005.

FIG. 11 illustrates an operation for acquiring a particular resolutionimage corresponding to a plurality of particular resolutions based on ashared image in an electronic device according to various embodiments.

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 101 (of FIG. 1)may generate images of various resolutions based on the shared image.According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101 may require animage (e.g., a content image) indicating contents of various functionssuch as a graphic interface displayed on the display 150 and/or an imageof a resolution optimized for each content. When determining eachcontent image, the electronic device 101 may acquire an image of acorresponding resolution, but may generate an image corresponding toeach resolution based on the shared image and the auxiliary imagecorresponding to one provided resolution. When acquiring the sharedimage, the electronic device 101 may acquire a plurality of sharedimages used for various contents as data in package form. The electronicdevice 101 may generate an image of a particular resolutioncorresponding to a content to be used, based on the acquired shareddata.

According to an embodiment, when the electronic device 101 uses theshared image as an image of an execution icon 1101 (e.g., a short cuticon) of a particular program displayed on the display 150 (of FIG. 1),the electronic device 101 may identify a resolution of the shared imageand a first particular resolution of the icon 1101. When the resolutionof the shared image and the first particular resolution of the icon 1101are different from each other, the electronic device 101 may determinewhether there is an image of the first particular resolution of theshared image corresponding to the first particular resolution of theicon 1101. The electronic device 101 may identify a first auxiliaryimage corresponding to the first particular resolution of the icon 1101based on the identification information of the shared image. When thefirst auxiliary image is not identified in the memory 130 (of FIG. 1),the electronic device 101 may make a request to the server 106 (ofFIG. 1) for transmission of the first auxiliary image and the image ofthe first particular resolution. When transmitting the imagetransmission request information to the server 106, the electronicdevice 101 may also transmit the identification information of theshared image and information on the first particular resolution of theicon 1101. The electronic device 101 may receive the first auxiliaryimage corresponding to the first particular resolution of the icon 1101from the server 106. The electronic device 101 may generate the image ofthe first particular resolution corresponding to the resolution of theicon 1101 based on the shared image and the first auxiliary image. Theelectronic device 101 may set the generated image of the firstparticular resolution as the image of the icon 1101.

As described above, although shared images used for respective contentsare distinguished from each other, this is only for describing variousembodiments, and it is apparent that one shared image may be used forvarious contents. According to an embodiment, the electronic device 101may use the shared image as an image of another content 1103 (e.g., abackground image). When the electronic device 101 uses the shared imageas the background image 1103 (e.g., the background image of the display150) of the particular program displayed on the display 150, theelectronic device 101 may identify the resolution of the shared imageand a second particular resolution of the display 150. When theresolution of the shared image and the second particular resolution ofthe display 150 are different from each other, the electronic device 101may determine whether there is an image of the second particularresolution of the shared image corresponding to the second particularresolution of the display 150. The electronic device 101 may identify asecond auxiliary image corresponding to the second particular resolutionof the display 150 based on the identification information of the sharedimage. When the second auxiliary image is not identified in the memory130, the electronic device 101 may make a request to the server 106 fortransmission of the second auxiliary image or the image of the secondparticular resolution. When transmitting the image transmission requestinformation to the server 106, the electronic device 101 may alsotransmit the identification information of the shared image andinformation on the second particular resolution of the display 150. Theelectronic device 101 may receive the second auxiliary imagecorresponding to the second particular resolution of the display 150from the server 106. The electronic device 101 may generate the image ofthe second particular resolution corresponding to the resolution of thedisplay 150 based on the shared image and the second auxiliary image.The electronic device 101 may set the generated image of the secondparticular resolution as the image of the display 150.

According to various embodiments, an operation method of an electronicdevice may include: acquiring a shared image from an image resourcefile; acquiring an auxiliary image generated based on a differencebetween the image resource file and the shared image; and generating aparticular image resource file based on the shared image and theauxiliary image. According to an embodiment, the acquiring of theauxiliary image may include making a request to another electronicdevice for transmission of an image of a particular resolution andreceiving the auxiliary image from the other electronic device.According to an embodiment, the auxiliary image may be an imagedetermined based on particular resolution information and imageidentification information received by the other electronic device.According to an embodiment, the making of the request may includetransmitting identification information of the shared image andresolution information corresponding to the image resource file.According to an embodiment, the shared image may correspond to a lowresolution image including at least a part of the image resource file.According to an embodiment, the auxiliary image may include theremaining images except for the shared image in the particularresolution. According to an embodiment, the shared image may correspondto an image generated by at least one of the image resource file and asecond image resource file of a resolution different from that of theimage resource file. According to an embodiment, the operation methodmay further include: acquiring a second auxiliary image generated from adifference between the second image resource file and the shared image;and generating a second particular image resource file based on theshared image and the second auxiliary image.

Various embodiments performed by the electronic device 101 may beoperations performed under control of the processor 120. The electronicdevice 101 may include a module, separate from the processor 120, whichis programmed to control the various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The separate module programmed to control the variousembodiments of the present disclosure may operate under the control ofthe processor 120.

According to various embodiments, the processor 120 may acquire theshared image generated from the image resource file through thecommunication interface, acquire the auxiliary image generated based ona difference between the image resource file and the shared image, andgenerate a particular image resource file based on the shared image andthe auxiliary image. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 maymake a request to another electronic device for transmission of an imageof a particular resolution and may receive an auxiliary image from theother electronic device. According to an embodiment, the processor 120may determine the auxiliary image based on particular resolutioninformation and image identification information received by the otherelectronic device. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 maytransmit and make a request for resolution information corresponding tothe identification information of the shared image and the imageresource file. According to an embodiment, the processor 120 may processa low resolution image including at least a part of the image resourcefile to be the shared image. According to an embodiment, the processor120 may process the auxiliary image including the remaining imagesexcept for the shared image in the particular resolution. According toan embodiment, the processor 120 may generate the shared image from atleast one of the image resource file and a second image resource file ofa resolution different from that of the image resource file. Accordingto an embodiment, the processor 120 may acquire a second auxiliary imagegenerated from a difference between the second image resource file andthe shared image and generate a second particular image resource filebased on the shared image and the second auxiliary image.

According to various embodiments, the server can reduce management costsby configuring one image file, which can be applied to all of aplurality of electronic devices having various resolutions.

According to various embodiments, it is possible to reduce the size ofan image file by reducing unnecessary resources.

According to various embodiments, it is possible to provide a highquality image file which has no image quality deterioration even thoughthe size of the image file is reduced.

According to various embodiments, an electronic device may include acomputer-readable storage medium recording a program for executing aprocess. The process may include: acquiring a shared image from an imageresource file; acquiring an auxiliary image generated based on adifference between the image resource file and the shared image; andgenerating a particular image resource file based on the shared imageand the auxiliary image.

The term “module” as used in the present disclosure, for example, maymean a unit including one of hardware, software, and firmware or anycombination of two or more of them. The “module”, for example, may beinterchangeable with the term “unit”, “logic”, “logical block”,“component”, or “circuit”. The “module” may be the smallest unit of anintegrated component or a part thereof. The “module” may be the smallestunit that performs one or more functions or a part thereof. The “module”may be mechanically or electronically implemented. For example, the“module” according to the present disclosure may include at least one ofan application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip, afield-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and a programmable-logic devicefor performing certain operations, which are now known or will bedeveloped in the future.

The method according to the disclosure as described above may beimplemented as a program command which can be executed through variouscomputers and recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. Therecording medium may include a program command, a data file, and a datastructure. Further, the program command may be specially designed andconfigured for the present disclosure or may be used after being knownto those skilled in computer software fields. The recording medium mayinclude magnetic media such as a hard disk, a floppy disk and a magnetictape, optical media such as a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) anda DVD, magneto-optical media such as a floptical disk, and hardware suchas a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM) and a flashmemory. Further, the program command may include a machine language codegenerated by a compiler and a high-level language code executable by acomputer through an interpreter and the like.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with referenceto various embodiments therefore, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a communicationinterface configured to receive an image resource file from acontent-providing server; a processor configured to read a shared imagefrom the image resource file, identify display information of theelectronic device, determine an auxiliary image using a differencebetween the display information and the shared image, and generate aparticular image based on the shared image and the auxiliary image; anda display configured to display the generated particular image.
 2. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor reads the auxiliaryimage from the image resource file, or requests for the auxiliary imageto the content-providing server and to receive the auxiliary image fromthe content-providing server.
 3. The electronic device of claim 2,wherein the processor transmits the display information andidentification information of the shared image to the content-providingserver and receives an auxiliary image corresponding to the displayinformation and the identification information.
 4. The electronic deviceof claim 1, wherein the display information corresponds to at least oneof a) the resolution of the electronic device and b) a resolutionselected by a user.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein theprocessor reads a low resolution image including at least a part of theimage resource file as the shared image.
 6. The electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein the processor processes the remaining images of theimage resource file except for the shared image as the auxiliary image.7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor reads theshared image from at least one of the image resource file and a secondimage resource file of a resolution different from that of the imageresource file.
 8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein theprocessor acquires a second auxiliary image from a difference betweenthe second image resource file and the shared image, and generates asecond particular image based on the shared image and the secondauxiliary image.
 9. An operation method of an electronic device, theoperation method comprising: acquiring a shared image from an imageresource file; acquiring an auxiliary image including using a differencebetween the image resource file and the shared image; and generating aparticular image based on the shared image and the auxiliary image. 10.The operation method of claim 9, wherein the acquiring of the auxiliaryimage comprises at least one of: reading the auxiliary image from theimage resource file; and requesting for the auxiliary image to acontent-providing server and receiving the auxiliary image from thecontent-providing server.
 11. The operation method of claim 10, whereinthe receiving of the auxiliary image comprises: transmitting the displayinformation and identification information of the shared image to thecontent-providing server; and receiving an auxiliary image correspondingto the display information and the identification information.
 12. Theoperation method of claim 10, wherein the display informationcorresponds to at least one of a) the resolution of an electronic deviceand b) a resolution selected by a user.
 13. The operation method ofclaim 9, wherein the shared image corresponds to a low resolution imageincluding at least a part of the image resource file.
 14. The operationmethod of claim 9, wherein the auxiliary image includes the remainingimages of the image resource file except for the shared image.
 15. Theoperation method of claim 9, wherein the shared image corresponds to animage generated by at least one of the image resource file and a secondimage resource file of a resolution different from that of the imageresource file.
 16. The operation method of claim 15, further comprising:acquiring a second auxiliary image generated from a difference betweenthe second image resource file and the shared image; and generating asecond particular image based on the shared image and the secondauxiliary image.
 17. A computer-readable storage medium recording aprogram for executing a process, the process comprising: acquiring ashared image from an image resource file; acquiring an auxiliary imagegenerated based on a difference between the image resource file and theshared image; and generating a particular image based on the sharedimage and the auxiliary image.
 18. The computer-readable storage mediumrecording a program of claim 17, wherein the acquiring of the auxiliaryimage comprises at least one of: reading the auxiliary image from theimage resource file; and requesting for the auxiliary image to acontent-providing server and receiving the auxiliary image from thecontent-providing server.
 19. The computer-readable storage mediumrecording a program of claim 18, wherein the receiving of the auxiliaryimage comprises: transmitting the display information and identificationinformation of the shared image to the content-providing server; andreceiving an auxiliary image corresponding to the display informationand the identification information.
 20. The computer-readable storagemedium recording a program of claim 18, wherein the display informationcorresponds to at least one of a) the resolution of an electronic deviceand b) a resolution selected by a user.